The Strangers
by Rocco103
Summary: A story about some U.S Marines in the Naruto world. This is my first fanfiction. Please review Rated for language and violence.
1. Beginning

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Naruto or any part of the USMC.

**Author notes: **All marines in this story are made up. This chapter is the only chapter to be released ahead of time; all others will be posted after Christmas.

Rank abbreviations from highest to lowest: Msgt Master Sergeant, GySgt Gunnery Sergeant, SSgt Staff Sergeant, Sgt Sergeant, CPL Corporal, LCpl Lance Corporal, and PFC Private First Class

"**The Strangers"**

"When are we going to get back to base?" whined Lance Corporal Connor.

"We'll get back when we get back." replied a rather annoyed Corporal Mitch. Corporal Mitch was an average sized man; in fact everything about him was average. He had brownish red hair with blue eyes and a long pink scar that ran across his neck.

"But we've be out on patrol for six hours." Connor whined again.

"And we'll be on patrol for another six if you don't shut your trap." Snapped Mitch

The driver of the vehicle smiled and laughed quietly to himself in a deep voice. He was a big guy, standing 6'6" with broad shoulders, his eyes were a dark mahogany and his hair was a curly brown mess. He would have been handsome if a grenade hadn't gone off in his face. It was covered with scars and one of the ears was almost completely torn off. Despite his frightening appearance, Master sergeant Chris Pierce was a very kind person, he loved kids and hated hurting people when it wasn't necessary.

Chris stopped smiling and laughing. He knew Mitch had every reason to be annoyed with Connor; the young Marine had been asking the same question every ten minutes. Chris thought that for a Marine Connor whined a lot, but then again the kid was only 21, fresh out of boot and wanting to see some action.

"Connor don't you even think about asking that question. In fact, I order you not to say another thing until we get back to base." Chris said, seeing the young man open his mouth again. It wasn't technically within his power, but that didn't matter.

"Y-yes sir" Connor replied sulkily.

"Come on Connor, you should be happy, getting to ride in a brand new Stryker. Hell, you evening get to be with the legendary Chris Pierce." Gunnery Sergeant John jokingly told the Lance Corporal. The Gunnery Sergeant was the exact opposite in physical appearance. He was 6'1", thin and willowy, bright blue eyes with extraordinarily blonde hair.

It was true though, at least the Stryker part, getting to ride in a brand new Stryker troop carrier was something not many soldiers got to do on patrols, especially this far north.

Chris looked down at his younger brother and smiled, so John had elevated him to legendary now. He wondered what stories John had been telling the other squad members. Chris looked around the small cramped interior of the Stryker at his squad. They had been called north to Norway to deal with some sort of uprising there. Currently they were driving on a dirt road coming back from a patrol.

There was a jingling sound as the squad's sniper, Adam, fingered the dog tags around his neck. Adam was a quiet man who almost never talked unless asked a question and when he did it was with as few words as possible. He had a shaved head; claiming hair got in the way when sniping, and had the palest blue eyes Chris had ever seen, they were almost completely white and never seemed to blink.

There was also the occasional click as the medical tools in the first aid kit were rearranged. Steven the only medic had an annoying habit of rearranging the med kit whenever he was bored, which was quite often. Steven had short spiky hair that never seemed to get combed. He had bright green eyes that could cheer anybody up; even a dying man, which was pretty often. Steven had been in seven different squads but they had all been killed except him, causing him to become emotionally distant from other squad members.

"Need assistance! I repeat we need assistance!" crackled over the radio suddenly, surprising the Marines.

"Okay, who are you and what is your position?" Chris asked urgently, it wasn't everyday that you got a distress call.

"This is Delta squad; we are in sector 3 and need immediate assistance." Came the reply

"What is going on, are you under attack?" Chris asked even more urgently. The voice on the radio had sounded frantic almost to the point of panic.

"I don't know what's happening. What the hell, what's happening to me? Ahhhhhhhhh!" the man's scream slowly faded on the radio. The whole squad had stopped what they were doing, and looked at the radio with interest. It was deathly quiet inside the cramped and dimly lit vehicle.

"Hello? Respond, please respond." Chris began yelling into the radio. Static was the only reply.

"Okay guys I don't know what the hell that was about, but we're going to go check it out. Get your weapons ready just incase." He didn't need to tell them that, as soon as they had heard the scream they began getting ready.

Half an hour later the Stryker reached the spot where the distress signal had come from. The Marines carefully got out the back and began looking around for the missing squad. After an hour of searching, and finding nothing Chris called them back together.

"Okay, this is definitely the strangest thing I have ever seen. Not a single sign of the squad or their vehicles except some tire tracks." Adam said when everybody was back together.

The place they were in was a large clearing surrounded by tall pine trees and very little underbrush. The sun had set leaving the clearing in almost complete darkness. The only sign that they had found of the missing Marine squad was the tire tracks of their vehicles.

"Do we even know what vehicles the squad was driving at the time of their disappearance?" John asked looking at Chris.

"I called base and told them of the distress signal. They said Delta squad had two humvee's with .50 cal machine guns and two cargo trucks." Chris replied looking at a small piece of paper in his hand.

There was a sudden smell of smoke and sulphur, John fell to his face contorted with pain, screaming and flashing different colors.

"What the fuck? What's happening to him?" Connor screamed in panic, when suddenly he too fell to the ground on his back, screaming and flashing bright white just like John.

"Steven, do something!" Chris yelled at the medic.

"I don't know what to do! I've never seen this before." The panicked medic yelled back at Chris, before he too succumbed to the strange flashing and pain. A minute later the entire squad was flashing white and on the ground screaming in pain before they all disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Chris screamed as his entire body reappeared in a large cloud of smoke. He began to pant as the pain quickly subsided. Eventually he opened his eyes and was surprised at what he saw. He was standing up with his gun in his hands. His entire squad was there as well along with the Stryker. He began to take in his surroundings; he was standing in a road that was surrounded by thick green foliage. It was daytime, but the thing that surprised and scared him most was the scene in front of him.

It looked like a scene from a horror movie. The Marines looked around in horror. The clearing they were in was the seen of a fight; that was about as much they could tell. There were bodies burned black and smoking on the ground. While others somehow had rocks impaled through their chests, some had strange knives and ninja stars in them as well. One man had even been cut in half. Others had bullet holes which was comforting, in a sick way.

All of the dead men had the same strange uniforms on; gray shirts, long black pants, black masks, and headbands with a musical note on it. It was the strangest uniform any of the Marines had ever seen, it had no camouflage capabilities, anyway to block a gunshot, and it looked like the wearer would overheat very quickly.

Connor was the first to break the silence "What the fuck happened here? This can't be real…" his voice trailed off shakily.

"Well if it's not real, then what is it?" Mitch asked Connor in a voice that was just as shaky and scared.

To every ones surprise and horror one of the bodies groaned and began to move. The man crawled towards the Marines, groaning every time one of his cuts reopened. Eventually he collapsed, blood trickling from his mouth and his eyes staring into nothingness.

Everyone took a step back in surprise. Steven walked towards the previously assumed dead man. He bent down and put his fingers to the man's neck checking for a pulse, he shook his head, closing the man's eyes before grabbing two scrolls and a headband from the dead man. He walked back to the squad and showed Chris the scrolls and headband, Chris frowned when he read one of the scrolls.

"What did the scrolls say? Do they have anything to do with this battle, or how we got here?" Adam asked quickly, very much unlike his usually slow and uncaring attitude.

"One of the scrolls said something about a summoning jutsu, whatever that is, and the other was some sort of message to somebody called Hokage." Chris answered.

"Well if that's what the scrolls said then what's with the headband?" It was John who asked this question.

"Look for yourself." Chris said frowning as he tossed the bloody headband to John. He caught it and frowned when he looked at it.

"What? What is it?" Connor pestered John.

"Look at the design, this is a swirl, it's nothing like that musical note on the other headbands." John told Connor.

"So what does that mean?" Connor asked, still not understanding.

"It means that this guy wasn't with all these dead people." Mitch said angrily.

The members of Alpha squad stood there staring at the bloody ground lost in their thoughts. It was Chris who broke the silence and came to a conclusion.

"None of this matters, the only thing that does matter is finding Delta squad and getting back to base." The squad leader said.

"Everybody get in the Stryker and prepare for combat, we don't want to get caught off guard. Now move!" Chris ordered the Marines. Five minutes later after collecting anything of value the squad climbed into the Stryker and began driving through the forest.

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"Did you see that?" Steven asked the group. They had been driving for ten minutes when the question was asked.

"See what?" Connor asked nervously, he had been nervous since they had gotten to the strange forest.

"It looked like a humvee. But I can't be sure, we were moving to fast." Steven told Connor who was looking unsure.

"If it is then it might be Delta squad, we're going back." Chris turned the Stryker around knocking down several saplings.

After getting to the spot where Steven said he thought he saw the humvee the squad got out of the Stryker, with their weapons at the ready. Alpha squad crossed the threshold into the forest and was immediately engulfed in darkness. The forest canopy was thick, with even thicker underbrush. It would be almost impossible to find a camouflaged humvee in thought Adam. He would know considering he was a sniper whose job it was to remain hidden.

"There, I think I see something." John said surprising everybody. He was pointing towards a bush that looked like the hundreds of other bushes. Upon closer inspection though the Marines could see the outline of a humvee.

"Well, looks like Steven was right, there really was a humvee. But where's the driver?" Mitch questioned everybody.

"I-I think I found him, a-and the rest of D-Delta squad." Connor called back to the rest of the squad in a shaky voice. He was ten feet ahead, at the edge of a clearing.

"What do you mean you think? Either you know or you don't." Chris said unsurely. Something wasn't right, what could Connor mean by 'I think'.

Alpha squad moved forward to see what Connor had meant. What they saw shocked them all. As they got closer the smell of burning flesh hit their noses. As they reached the clearings edge they all stopped in their tracks. In the middle of the clearing was two military cargo trucks, a humvee, and a pile of burned bodies.

Chris walked towards the dead bodies, his boots kicking aside hundreds of spent shell casings. He bent down and ripped the dog tags off a burned body. He read it for a second before shaking his head.

"Its Delta squad alright, the dog tag proves it and the vehicles are a big clue too." Chris said sadly looking at the corpses that had once been people.

"But what the hell happened? How could they all have been killed without killing a single enemy?" John yelled out. This was too much for him; he had been trained to deal with lots of stuff, but not this.

"John calm down okay, every things fine, but if you panic things could go wrong. Besides your wrong, Delta squad managed to kill at least one person. Remember the guy with bullet wounds; I'm guessing he was killed by Delta squad. What probably happened was that they appeared here, went scouting, were attacked by the masked guys, and killed one before retreating and getting killed here." Chris said it with no emotion, like a computer, but John could tell that Chris was greatly saddened. He could see it in his big brothers eyes; their usual dark brown seemed even darker and sadder than usual.

"You guys stay here, Adam and I are going to go scout ahead. Clean up the bodies and make camp, but no fires. Adam get your ghillie suit, Barrett and follow me." Chris ordered.

"Yes sir!" everybody snapped off a salute before doing what they were ordered.

Adam walked forward wearing his ghillie suit, looking like some sort of grass monster. The two walked forward through the underbrush, barely making a sound as they stepped through bushes and over logs. Soon they saw the end of the forest, by now night had begun to fall and a light fog had moved in making the forest seem eerie and seem sinister.

They finally burst through the tree line and were stunned at what they saw. It was a city surrounded by a hundred foot high wall and a mountain that looked like Mount Rushmore.

"Guess this is where the guys in the masks are from." Chris said stunned. He had never seen anything like this before.

"I think you might be right, or at least partly." Adam said stunned as well. He was looking through his scope watching the gates into the city. What he saw surprised him. The city had walls and a gate; two completely outdated things by modern standards. He noticed three shapes running through the fog. They were just kids, two boys and a girl; one of the boys was a blonde, the other boy had brown hair with a dog on his head, the girl had a strange bluish black hair. They were wearing headbands with the same swirl pattern, like the one that the guy carrying the scrolls wore.

"What do you mean _'partly right'_?" Chris asked, puzzled.

"The only people I see with headbands, have headbands with swirls on them, not musical notes." Adam stated.

"So do you think that the masked guys are an invading army or something?" Chris asked. If this was true it would be important to choose a side and make sure that the squad lived.

"I'll stay here and do a little recon, try and find out anything else." Adam began to climb into tree and look through his sniper scope.

"Okay, just don't get seen or it's all over." Chris warned before turning around.

"Don't worry, I won't get caught." Adam replied in his uncaring voice.

Chris knew that Adam was right, if Adam didn't want to be seen he wouldn't be. As he walked back towards camp he looked over his shoulder trying to see Adam, all he couldn't see anything other than a tree and some bushes.

"Now the fun begins." Adam muttered to himself before he turned to look through the sniper scope…

**Notes: **This chapter will be the only one released early. All the others will come out sometime after Christmas. This is also now the longest thing I have ever written, and the first thing I have ever written willingly. Please review; any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


	2. Found

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Naruto or any part of the USMC. All marines in this story are made up.

**Notes: **I know I said that chapter 1 would be the only chapter realeased early. But this is an exception. I won't be able to update for a while after Christmas so i'll just do it now.

Rank abbreviations from highest to lowest: Msgt Master Sergeant, GySgt Gunnery Sergeant, SSgt Staff Sergeant, Sgt Sergeant, CPL Corporal, LCpl Lance Corporal, and PFC Private First Class

"**The Strangers"**

**Part. 2**

The three dirty and exhausted companions slowly trudged down the road. They had been on a five day mission and were about ready to collapse. The only thing keeping them going was the thought of getting home and sleeping in their beds.

Suddenly one of them lifted his head and sniffed the air; he frowned. "You smell that too Akamaru?" asking the small dog perched on his head. Its reply was a bark that the others took as a yes.

"What is it, what do you smell Kiba?" The blonde haired boy asked his companion curiously.

"I don't know exactly, but it smells like blood and gunpowder." Kiba explained.

"B-b-blood and gunpowder?" The blue haired girl asked timidly. "Why w-would there be g-gunpowder out here?"

"That's what I'm confused about. Why would there be blood and gunpowder. It doesn't make any sense. The only reason I can think of the two being together is if there was an accident with fireworks." Kiba said thinking out loud.

"What kind of accident?" The girl asked again.

"I don't know? The gunpowder could have blown up, hurting or killing someone. That's all I can think of Hinata." Kiba said, replying to her question.

"Well if someone is hurt we should go help them. Come on, let's go." Naruto yelled, before running up the hill in front of them, all signs of exhaustion gone.

"Sigh, come on Hinata, let's go before Naruto hurts himself or something." Kiba said before running up the hill after Naruto.

"W-wait for me." Hinata stammered out, before she too ran up the hill.

As she got closer to the top she noticed that both Naruto and Kiba had stopped. When Hinata got to the top where she to stopped in her tracks at the seen bellow.

It was the seen of a battle. Bodies were burned or bent into grotesque positions with kunai and shuriken sticking out of their backs. One body had been torn in half while another had small round holes in his chest.

The three shinobi slowly shuffled down the hill in shocked silence. They were no strangers to violence or death, but they had never seen anything like this before. As they walked through the carnage in silence Naruto's foot hit a small metal object. He looked down and picked it up, slowly turning it around in his fingers, looking at it curiously. It was a short brass tube that narrowed at the top.

"What is it Naruto?" Kiba asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know. I've never seen something like this before." Naruto said while he continued to stare at the odd metal object.

"Look t-there's another o-one and some more over there t-to." Hinata said pointing at two more strange pieces of metal.

"What the, they're every where!" Kiba exclaimed loudly. It was true, now that they looked the ground was carpeted in the pieces of metal.

"What are they, firecrackers?" Naruto asked as he dropped the piece of metal he was holding.

"They don't look like any firecrackers I've ever seen." Kiba said as he bent down and picked up a handful of them. "Whatever they are, they're what smells like gunpowder."

"Wait a minute, all these people are Sound shinobi." Naruto stated.

"Hey, he's right all these people are Sound shinobi." Kiba exclaimed loudly.

"Oh man, if these dead guys are Sound shinobi then what about the village. It could be under attack right now!" Naruto yelled out.

"Shit, your right. We have to get back to Konoha to warn them."

The three began to sprint towards their village, all signs of exhaustion forgotten as they raced down the road. As they ran none of them noticed the body that was dressed differently and was missing a headband.

* * *

The five figures were huddled around a small heat lamp as they struggled to keep warm. The fog had made everything damp and uncomfortable, and the sounds of the forest prevented any possibility of sleep. A figure walked out of the forest and sat down without a word. 

"Did you see anything interesting?" One of the huddled figures asked.

"Yes" The new person answered

"Well what?" Another figure asked impatiently.

"I found out who the leader is, who is in the military, and where they train."

"Good job Adam, now can you please elaborate." Chris asked patiently.

"The leader is a woman who stays in a large red building at the back of the city. The armed forces are the people who wear the headbands. Apparently the age range is from ten to at least forty. The training facility is a small compound that looks like a school; it's where the children train." Adam answered.

"Damn, kids in the military. What kind of screwed up place is this." Connor muttered, the others nodded in agreement.

"Did you find out how many soldiers they have, or what kind of weapons they use?" Chris asked again.

"They could have anywhere from a hundred to a thousand soldiers and from what I an tell they only use close combat weapons such as knives, ninja stars, and these giant ninja stars." Adam told the group.

"Anything else you noticed, every little detail could help."

"Well I did notice something extremely strange; these people are like super humans. I saw some jumping across rooftops, others changing into different people in a cloud of smoke, one person even teleported. Oh, I almost forgot, they sent out search parties after some kids went into the red building." Adam said it casually and emotionlessly, as if he saw that kind of stuff everyday.

"What?! They sent out search parties and you waited until now to tell us." John yelled at Adam angrily.

"It was just ten minutes ago." Adam responded uncaringly.

"Okay guys we need to be ready for anything. John can you tell me what was in the cargo trucks." Chris ordered.

"One of the trucks was carrying gas and MREs. The other truck was carrying ammunition, six ghillie suits, seven tents, and beer. Which isn't exactly allowed in the base." John said smiling at his older brother.

"Ghillie suits; those could be very useful. Tell the other's to get a ghillie and wait for my command." Chris ordered.

Five minutes later the Marines were assembled and waiting for instructions. They stood in a line at attention, ready to do whatever was needed of them. They were all wearing ghillie suits and night vision goggles. Chris walked up and addressed the five men under his command.

"Okay if we're going to survive this we need to hide anything that could alert a person to our presence. I want John and Steven to hide the vehicles, Mitch and Connor to disassemble the tents and remove any footprints or tire tracks. Adam you'll help me decide where everyone's positions will be. I don't want any talking and all weapons to be silenced. Now move out Marines." Chris ordered his Marines. Adam walked towards Chris silently.

"I already have a basic plan for where the squad should hide." Adam said as Chris opened his mouth.

"Really? That was pretty quick." Chris said surprised.

"It's my job to know this kind of stuff." Adam said smilingly slightly.

"I thought your job was to kill people and follow orders." Chris said jokingly

"That's also part of my job." Adam replied in his usual cold manner.

"So where are we going to hide?" Chris asked.

Adam began to describe his plan, showing Chris the spots where the squad would hide, and what they would do if someone found the camp. His plan was to split the squad in half; three would watch the vehicles while the other three would watch the camp. Everybody was in position and waiting, when two figures landed in the clearing.

* * *

It was nighttime by the time they got to the village and a light fog had rolled in. To their relief Konoha was safe. They let out a sigh of relief, seeing the village was safe and sound. The three stopped, waiting for the gates to open. 

"Naruto, Hinata you two go tell the Hokage what we saw. I'm going to go round up the others."

"Wait, why do I have to tell Grandma Tsunade?" Naruto panted angrily between breaths.

"Because you won't be able to find them in the dark; Akamaru and I can find them by smell." Kiba pointed out to a frustrated Naruto.

"But what about Hinata? Why can't she help you find the others?"

"Because her Byakugan has a limited range and because she can help explain what we saw." Kiba said, giving Naruto a look.

"Fine, whatever; come on, lets go Hinata." Naruto said before running off towards the Hokage's office.

"W-wait for me N-Naruto..." Hinata stammered out before she followed Naruto. Kiba sighed before he ran off looking for his friends with Akamaru.

"Grandma Tsunade!" Naruto yelled before running into the Hokage's office.

"Naruto you should at least knock before just run into somebody's office." The Hokage said irritated, she had been asleep when he ran in.

"But it's really important." Naruto said continuing to yell.

"What could be so important at 12:00 pm?" Tsunade asked, giving Naruto an cold look.

"It is i-important Hokage." Hinata mumbled out.

Tsunade looked surprised; she hadn't even noticed the shy girl enter the room. "Okay, fine, what's so important?"

"On the way back we saw what looked like a battle. There were dead Sound shinobi and these weird metal tubes." Naruto said before dropping a handful of the brass casings on her desk.

"You did say Sound shinobi right?" Tsunade asked, getting worried.

"Yeah, and the ground was covered in these metal tubes." Naruto told Tsunade again.

"Is this true, Hinata?" Tsunade said asking the young girl; Hinata nodded.

"Okay! Shizune alert all Jounin and Chuunin, tell them to be ready to fight in case of attack. Also tell the ANBU captains to report to me immediately." Tsunade ordered her assistant.

Five minutes later the room was filled with ANBU squad captains. They were all surprised at being called to the Hokage's office so late at night.

"I want every ANBU squad to begin patrolling outside the walls, make sure there isn't anybody around; report in every hour." Tsunade ordered the assembled shinobi. Instantly the room was filled with smoke as the ANBU squads' teleported out of the office.

Tsunade turned too the two Gennin who were sitting in the corner of the room. She saw Hinata blush as Naruto helped her up.

"I'm going to need you two to help Shizune by telling all of the other Gennin about this." Tsunade said, glaring at Naruto who didn't seem to be paying attention.

"Fine, let's go Hinata." Naruto said uncaringly before turning around and walking out of the room.

"Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble okay Hinata. I have enough to worry about right now." Tsunade told Hinata.

"Y-yes Hokage." Hinata stammered, before she turned and followed Naruto out of the room.

The two companions walked down the street silently, each occupied by their own thoughts. _'Man I wonder who or what killed those Sound shinobi, I would give anything to find out.' _Is what Naruto was thinking, Hinata's thoughts though were much different. _'It's just the two of us right now, and I'm so close to him. Should I tell him now, but what if he says he doesn't feel the same way?'_

"Hinata, I just had an idea. What if we went out to find the people who killed the Sound shinobi? If we found them, we could bring them back to help fight, incase the Hidden Sound Village is invading again." Naruto asked, stopping to stare at her.

"S-sure why not." She stuttered, poking her fingers together. Hinata knew it wasn't a good idea, but she would do any thing to stay with Naruto.

"Good, then let's go." The blonde boy exclaimed loudly.

"Shouldn't we tell the others first? Incase something happens." Hinata timidly asked.

"Of course not, if we tell them, they will tell Tsunade and we'll get in trouble." Naruto told her.

"I guess that makes sense." Hinata seemed hesitant.

"Don't worry; if anything happens I'll protect you; I promise." Naruto said beaming and giving her a big grin, causing her to smile and blush.

The two began making their way to the gate. They kept to the shadows and went slowly, careful not to run into anybody they knew. After ten minutes they got to the gate and stopped. Now the difficult part began; how to get past the sentries and ANBU squads who were on patrol.

"Hinata, I think I have an idea on how we can get past." Naruto whispered to her. He began to whisper his plan in her ear.

"Okay, ready Hinata?" He asked her.

"I'm ready Naruto. Byakugan." She said activating her ability.

"Tell me where the sentries are Hinata?" Naruto told her as he made a shadow clone.

"There are three in front of the gate, two on the wall, and four in the trees." She said.

"Okay, let's go." Naruto said before handing his shadow clone an exploding kunai. It ran up and over the wall, ten seconds later there was an explosion and the ANBU were seen running towards it. "Come on Hinata, we have to hurry before the sentries get back."

The two sprinted when they saw the sentries leave their positions. They were able to make it to the forests edge. They stood there silently; the forest seemed sinister and evil at night. Naruto was the first to move; he jumped on a branch before moving deeper into the forest. Hinata was more hesitant; she had a bad feeling, like something bad was going to happen that night. _'It's to late now though.'_ Hinata thought as she followed Naruto into the forest.

* * *

The two were jumping from tree to tree, barely making a sound. When suddenly the blonde haired boy stopped and listened. 

"Hinata do you hear that?" Naruto asked his companion quietly.

"Hear what Naruto?" Hinata replied, looking at him questioningly.

"I was almost sure I heard someone talking just up ahead." Naruto told her.

The two quietly jumped down and crawled forward on their stomachs, towards some bushes. When they looked through the bushes they saw three ANBU squad members talking to each other in hushed tones. The two listened for a minute, after hearing nothing that concerned them, backed away.

"Hinata, come on lets go over this way." Naruto whispered, pointing towards their left.

Hinata and Naruto began to make their way to the left as quietly as they could. When suddenly '_snap_',Naruto had stepped on a stick causing it to break. The two stopped moving, waiting for the slightest sign that they had been heard. They both sighed in relief as they heard the ANBU squad leave a minute later in the other direction.

They than began to hurry down the new path, although careful not to run into another squad of ANBU. Naruto decided, after going for more than a mile they should stop for a quick break. The two shinobi stopped in a clearing that was surrounded by enough underbrush to block them from view.

"Hinata I'm going to go scout ahead, make sure there isn't anything in front of us, okay? I'll be back in a minute" Naruto told her.

"Okay, but be careful Naruto"

With that Naruto jumped onto a branch and ran ahead. Hinata sighed, '_She was ecstatic, she was with Naruto and hadn't fainted or stuttered once. It was a new record.'_ she thought to herself.

Suddenly she noticed one of the bushes move slightly. Hinata tensed and called out in a shaky voice "Is that you Naruto?" There was no reply, only the sound of crickets and other nighttime animals. She sighed again and relaxed, putting down the kunai she had been holding. '_It was just a mouse or rat'_ she thought.

Suddenly she felt the cold steel of a knives blade against her neck. "Put your hands behind your head and don't make a sound." A cold voice warned her from behind.

Naruto was jumping from branch to branch, careful not to slip on a patch of wet moss; he wasn't careful enough though. His foot landed a wet patch causing him to lose his balance and slip, hitting his head on a hard metal object.

"Shit! What did I hit my head on?" Muttered Naruto, holding his head where a large bump was already forming. "What in the hell? What is this?" He mumbled to himself seeing a strange metal vehicle. It was covered in netting and leaves, making it almost impossible to see. "Woah, there's more of them." He noticed five more vehicles, each hidden just as well. It was then that he noticed a box filled with the strange brass tubes he had seen at the battle seen.

"If these are here, then that means…" His voice trailed off as the hard realization came to him. "Hinata, we have to get out of here!" He shouted running back to where he had left her. He saw her sitting down, leaning against a tree, her upper body was covered by a shadow. "Hinata, come on. The people we're looking for are here; but I can't find them." Naruto noticed she wasn't responding; a sick feeling entered his stomach. "Hinata…?"

He stepped closer and instantly saw what was wrong. She was unconscious with her hands tied behind her back, and a gag in her mouth. He bent over to pick her up when he heard a branch snap. Naruto spun around, only to see the butt of a gun crash into side of his head; unconsciousness was immediate. His body went limp and fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

"Good job Adam, tie and gag him too. Put him and his friend in the Stryker; I don't want them making any noise." Chris said approaching the sniper.

"Yes sir." Adam replied emotionlessly as he picked up the two kids effortlessly, before walking towards the Styker.

"I wasn't expecting kids…" Chris mumbled to himself sadly as walked back to his position.

* * *

The sun rose slowly, lighting the world in a fantastic orange. The fog dissipated leaving small drops of dew on the grass making it sparkle like thousands of diamonds. Chris walked forward holding a cup of coffee and staring at the sunrise. Adam walked up behind the squad leader. 

"You shouldn't feel guilty about the kids." Adam said trying to comfort his friend. He knew Chris was being torn apart inside over what had happened last night. "They're in that city's military after all. They could have killed us possibly"

"I know, but they're still just kids. They shouldn't be kidnapped and hit in the head by a gun." Chris said quietly, staring into the coffee.

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't hit them too hard; just hard enough to knock them out." The sniper said before walking away.

"Chris, hey Chris!" Yelled John as he ran up to his brother excitedly and out of breath. "The other ones awake, the boy is awake."

"Really? Okay, make sure he doesn't cause any problems, but give him anything he wants; within reason of course." Chris said smiling at his younger brother.

* * *

'_Jeez, my head is killing me; what happened last night.' _Naruto thought as he groggily woke up. His head felt like it was being hit with hammers. Suddenly the memories of last night came rushing back to him. "Hinata!" he yelled out, startling his guard, who fell out of his chair. 

"Keep it down kid; you don't want to wake up Mitch. I told them not to take the gags off, but do they ever listen…" The guard's voice trailed off as he stood back up, rubbing his head.

Naruto stared at the man strangely. The guard was wearing the strangest clothes Naruto had ever seen. He was wearing forest camouflage covered in pockets, a helmet that seemed like it wouldn't do anything, and a holster carrying some sort of blunt silvery metal object.

"Where's Hinata?! You better not have hurt her, or you'll be sorry." Naruto warned the man.

"She's fine, a minor headache and some scratches is the worst." Answered a man entering the tent.

Naruto turned to look at who had answered and silently gasped. The man was huge, bigger than just about anybody Naruto had seen before. He had a deep voice, brown hair and eyes. But that wasn't what had made Naruto gasp; it was the man's face. It was covered in scars and one of the ears was almost completely gone.

"If she's okay, then where is she?" Naruto asked not trusting the big man.

"She's outside eating some food. She didn't want to at first, but hunger won out in the end." The man said smiling.

Naruto looked at the man not trusting him; it was the eyes, although the man was smiling his eyes looked sad and guilty.

"Can I see her then?" Asked Naruto, expecting the answer to be no.

"Of course you can." The man said happily to Naruto's surprise.

"One more question, who the hell are you?" Naruto asked the man.

"I'm Master Sergeant Chris and this Sergeant Steven." Chris said, still smiling.

The three walked outside the tent to see the rest of the camp. There where six tents, a small fire, the five vehicles Naruto had seen earlier, and everybody sitting around the fire. Naruto saw Hinata and smiled, thankful that she was alright. Her hands were tied behind her back; so one of the Marines was forced to feed her. He was holding a cup of coffee to her mouth while she drank.

"Hinata!" shouted Naruto when he saw her. She turned around at his voice. This let Naruto see the large bruise on her forehead where she had been hit.

"N-Naruto; your awake." Hinata happily said seeing Naruto's face. She had been worried about him, the man had said he was going to be okay, but she had still been worried.

"Are you okay Hinata? They didn't hurt or anything?" Naruto asked her, glad she was okay; but was angry after seeing the bruise on her head."Your okay right? They didn't do anything to you? Did they touch you or abuse you? If they did, I'll kill them!"

"N-no, they didn't h-hurt or touch m-me. They have b-been very n-nice ever since I w-woke up actually." Hinata stuttered out, a small blush forming on her cheeks. He had ran up to her and his face was only a couple inches from hers.

"Kid I don't know who you think we are, but we aren't pedophiles or rapists." This came from the guy who had been feeding Hinata.

"And who the hell are you? Who said you could help Hinata eat?" Naruto angrily asked the startled young man.

"I'm Connor, and I think Hinata said I could help feed her." Connor stuttered out, he hadn't expected such anger from the kid.

"Don't get angry Naruto; you can feed her if you want to try with your hands tied. But if you try to escape or hurt anyone here I'll kill you without hesitation." A cold voice warned. Naruto turned around, ready to yell and the person who had said it. His retort got caught in his throat when he saw the man's eyes. They were almost pure white, and were cold; there was no emotion in those eyes. Naruto knew that if he did try to escape this man would follow through with his statement.

"No need to start the day off badly. How about we just sit down, get something to eat and get to know each other?" Chris asked, trying to stop any kind of future conflict.

"Fine, but not until I get something to eat." Naruto said, sitting down on a log.

"What kind of MRE do you want then?" Chris asked pulling out a silver package.

"A what? All I want is some ramen." Naruto said looking at the package strangely.

"We don't have any ramen; all we have is some biscuits, scrambled eggs, bacon, and coffee." Chris told Naruto who looked like he was about to cry. '_This kid obviously doesn't know what's going on.' _Chris thought before pouring himself some more coffee.

* * *

"They did what!" Tsunade yelled at the two shinobi in front of her. She hit her desk causing cracks to form. 

"They snuck out of the village last night, like I just said." Shikamaru told her lazily.

"I would expect this from Naruto, but Hinata too. I would have never thought she would be this stupid." Tsunade said trying to calm down.

"It's because of Naruto; she would do anything to spend as much time with him as possible." Sakura said frustrated. She was also mad at Naruto for being so careless.

"How did you find this out in the first place? None of the sentries reported seeing anybody leave or enter the village." Tsunade asked them, staring at Kiba who looked worried.

"Akamaru and I smelled their trails out the village. But we didn't dare leave incase we got mistaken for a Sound shinobi." Kiba said replying to Tsunade's question.

"Okay, you're dismissed, but don't tell anyone except the other Gennin and their sensai's." Tsunade said dismissing them.

After the two had left her office they walked down the street silently, each thinking the same thing; their friends could either be captured or dead. After a while they split apart to go try and tell their friends the news.

'_Damn it Hinata, why did you have to go and leave? What were you thinking?' _Kiba thought as he walked down the street…


	3. Gay?

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Naruto or any part of the USMC. All marines in this story are made up.

Rank abbreviations from highest to lowest: Msgt Master Sergeant, GySgt Gunnery Sergeant, SSgt Staff Sergeant, Sgt Sergeant, CPL Corporal, LCpl Lance Corporal, and PFC Private First Class

**Notes: **Thisis just half of chapter 3 so that's why it is shorter than the other chapters. The reason for this is because it was getting so damn frustrating. Not only did my computer crash (thank god for flash drives) but I've been on vacation.

"**The Strangers"**

Tsunade looked at the seven people in front of her and sighed, it was going to be hard to break the news to them. The seven people were Kakashi, Kurenai, Shino, Shikamaru, Kiba, Neji, and Sakura and they were all looking at her expectantly. She had asked Shizune to get all of them here, and now that they were, she didn't know what to say.

"So what did you call us here for? Is it news on Naruto and Hinata? Are they all right?" Kiba asked Tsunade expectantly, a small frown on his face as she took a while to respond.

"I asked you all here to inform you the search for Hinata and Naruto has been called off." Tsunade said, waiting for the argument she knew was coming.

"What! Why would it be called off? Naruto and Hinata could be captured, and you won't try to find them!" Kiba began to shout at her, he was furious that they would do such a thing.

"Kiba, we haven't been approached by any kind of kidnapper or anything. All though it hurts me to say it, the most logical conclusion is that they were both killed." Tsunade could see the shock on everyone's faces; it had taken her a lot of will power to even suggest that they had been killed.

"Why can't the ANBU keep looking for them? If they aren't alive then at least the bodies can be recovered." Kakashi asked Tsunade. He couldn't understand why they would just give up like that.

"Because we need every ANBU and Jonin available incase of an attack by The Hidden Sound Village." Tsunade's frown deepened, she didn't know if Kakashi and Kurenai would like the idea. "But that doesn't mean I can't send out any Gennin to go look for them. I want you five to go try and find them. If the ANBU haven't found them yet then I doubt you will. If you see any sign of Sound shinobi then you are to report back to me immediately."

"But Lady Tsunade like you said, if ANBU hasn't found them than what chance do they have? It will just be an unnecessary risk to them." Shizune said, speaking for the first time since Tsunade had begun talking

"Lady Tsunade I think we can handle it." Shikamaru said, the other Gennin nodded in agreement.

"Very well then, you are to begin searching immediately. You have until morning to find them." Tsunade told them.

As the seven shinobi left the room Tsunade sighed. She couldn't believe how well that had gone, she had been expecting much more yelling.

"Shizune can you go get me something to drink?" Asked Tsunade.

"Yes Lady Tsunade." Shizune replied before she left to go get the drink.

As they left the building and Kakashi and Kurenai left while Shikamaru sat down and let out a loud sigh.

"Well what is the plan?" Kiba asked Shikamaru.

"First we have to find Naruto and Hinata's trail out of the village. Then once we find them and their kidnappers we'll free them." Shikamaru told them.

"That sounds a lot easier than it will be." Sakura pointed out.

"It does but it is just the general plan, if we encounter any problems later on then we'll change the plan." Explained Shikamaru.

* * *

The sun was setting by the time Hinata and Naruto had finished answering the Marines questions. They had been asked how they could do such strange things like transform or jump across roofs. Although surprised and confused that the Marines didn't know about chakra or jutsus they had explained.

"What are you thinking about Chris?" John asked as he stepped next to his brother.

"Just about these two." Chris said, gesturing at the two sleeping teenagers. They had fallen asleep after answering the Marines questions and were leaning against each others backs.

"You sure that's all you're thinking about? I would have thought it would be about what they told us." John asked his brother. "That's what I'm thinking about."

"It may be hard to believe in chakra and jutsus, but what they say is the only reasonable explanation on how we got here. I'm not going to stress about it though." Chris said, still looking at the two sleeping teenagers.

"Well then what about those two were you thinking about?" John asked, pointing at Hinata and Naruto.

"Just about how young they are to be in a military, and about what we should do with them." Chris said sadly as he walked over to Hinata. She had begun to talk in her sleep and it worried Chris a little.

"What we should do is give them back to village and hope we don't get killed." A frustrated John told his brother. It annoyed him to no end that his brother wouldn't go through with simple logic.

"I'm not going to trust our lives with hope, until we can find a plan that doesn't involve hoping, we're staying here." Chris said as he bent down and shook Hinata awake gently. "Come on Hinata, how about you go sleep in the tent, it's more comfortable in there."

"What's going on?" Hinata was a little dazed after being woken up.

"You were talking in your sleep so I decided to wake you up. I hope that's not a bad thing?" Chris looked worried; he was frowning and had a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine, just had a nightmare." Hinata lied to him; she had actually been having a very good dream with Naruto in it. He smiled but his eyes still seemed worried.

"Okay, but I still want you to sleep in the tent." He helped her get up and guided her over to one of the tents.

After making sure she was as comfortable as he could make a handcuffed person be Chris walked back next to John who was staring at Naruto. Chris understood why; it was because the two looked almost exactly the same. If it wasn't for their size and the whisker markings on Naruto's face, the two could be twins. This fact was probably freaking John out. Naruto began to move around as his body noticed the sudden loss of pressure on his back.

He woke up to see the two brothers watching him. "Um, are you two gay or something? Kind of creepy to wake up and see two men watching you sleep."

"No we aren't gay, and we're watching you so you don't try to escape." Chris said, not giving Naruto the reaction he had wanted.

It was then that Naruto noticed Hinata was missing. "Where's Hinata you two gay bastards? If you did anything to her I'll…"

"We know, we know, you'll kill us. Rest assured though she's fine, sleeping in the tent over there." John said pointing at the tent where Hinata was. "If you keep yelling you might wake her up."

"I think it's time you went to bed too." Chris said as he picked the struggling Naruto up and slung him over his shoulder.

"Let me down! I can walk on my own! I don't need you or your ugly face's help!" Naruto shouted at Chris while he kicked and struggled. The whole squad stopped to watch what happened next, it wasn't often a person shouted or remarked Chris's face like that.

"Okay, have it your way." Chris said as he dropped Naruto on the ground like a bag of potatoes.. He turned around and walked away stepping into his tent.

"Asshole…" Naruto muttered, struggling to stand up…


	4. Captured

**Notes: **Here it is, chapter 4 in all its semi-glory. This chapter isshorter than I would like so thats why i'm going to upload chapter 5 tomorrow, which will be longer. I also made some changes so the scene in the excerpt will be in the next chapter and changed a little. That's about it I guess. Now read, enjoy, and review.

"**The Strangers"**

The two jumped from branch to branch barely making a sound as the moon rose higher in the sky. They continued to move until the one in the front signaled to stop. Panting slightly Sakura stopped next to Shikamaru who was already sitting down on the branch. She followed his lead and sat down next to him and sighed.

"What a drag…" Shikamaru muttered to himself.

"What do you mean?" Asked Sakura.

"It's such a drag that neither of us has a special ability that can help us find Naruto or Hinata." Shikamaru said as he began to stand up again.

"If that's the case, than why did you have the team split up?" Sakura hadn't seen any sense in the tam splitting up before and Shikamaru's comment didn't help.

"We split up so that we could cover more ground faster. If we had stayed together the team would only be able to concentrate on a small area at once." Shikamaru continued. "Besides, this way if something goes wrong the whole team won't get screwed."

With that Shikamaru jumped to the next branch as Sakura followed him. They moved deeper into the forest, careful to not step on any rotten branches or patches of wet moss. Sakura had been thoroughly worried about Naruto and Hinata, now that the team was split up she worried about Kiba, Shino, and Neji. She didn't doubt their abilities but they knew nothing about the enemy except for the possibility that it could be the Hidden Sound Village.

Shaking her head Sakura concentrated on following Shikamaru who was several yards ahead of her. His silhouette was dimly illuminated by the stars and moon but it seemed to be growing fainter. Soon it was impossible for Sakura to see him at all.

A thick fog slowly began to envelope Sakura as she stopped. What little light the moon and stars provided was dimmed by the ever increasing fog. Soon it was impossible for Sakura to see even three feet in front of her.

"Shikamaru…" Sakura called out.

There was no reply and this only served to increase Sakura's fears. As Sakura pulled out a kunai and opened her mouth call for Shikamaru she heard laughter. It wasn't loud and it seemed to come from all directions. It soon stopped but continued again, louder than before. The laughter slowly faded only to be replaced a voice.

"What do we have here? A little Leaf shinobi bitch. Well isn't this a nice little fucking surprise. I guess your going to have to die now, can't have the little bitch go back to the village and spoil everything." The voice was cold and filled with sarcasm and sadism as it continued.

"W-what did you do t-to Shikamaru." Sakura's voice was filled with fear. Her eyes darted around trying to find the source of the voice as she held the kunai close to her chest.

"I haven't done anything to that little fucker, he was Shiunsu's job. As for what happened to him, I don't have the foggiest of fucking ideas. He's probably not dead yet because if he was there would be a rather large, bloody mess." The voice had started to get louder and Sakura knew that louder meant closer.

"Stop toying with your food Erikku." A new voice called out. "You know that fear just makes the muscles tense up and that doesn't taste any good."

"What do you mean by f-food?" Sakura felt her stomach drop from the reply.

"Shiunsu means you of course. I was exceptionally lucky to be the one to find you. A bitch's flesh is always taste the best, especially the breast. Meat from the breast practically melts in my mouth." The voice which Sakura now knew belonged to the one called Erikku said.

Sakura began to back up until she hit what at first she thought was the tree trunk until it moved. Slowly turning around Sakura screamed before she was enveloped by darkness.


End file.
